Books in the world

When I design a book cover, I'm fixated on the creation of a thing, that design, that look, but down the line, those designs become part of real books and those real books have lives of their own, and I love to catch glimpses of those lives. Recently, I asked authors and publishers of books I've designed covers for if they'd like to share some favorite photos of their books out in the world, and this is what I got.

Liz Scott signs her memoir This Never Happened, during her Powell's book launch.

Liz Prato ordered this Bowie bag specifically for her book tour for her short story collection Baby's On Fire. She took this fab shot as she was prepping for the 2015 AWP.

I love this picture Melissa Duclos took as she was heading out on book tour for her novel Besotted. She tells me that she was on the way to Dallas. What better way to celebrate than with a little airplane mimosa?

A multiplicity of Jackie Shannon Hollis' memoir This Particular Happiness. I like how the name and logo of the shop creates a shadow across the books.

Joe Bardin's doggy Marco relaxing with a good book (that's Joe's memoir Outlier Heart).

Susan DeFreitas offered up this favorite picture of writer Lidia Yuknavitch cuddling with her novel Hot Season as well as Jenny Forrester's memoir Narrow River, Wide Sky (which I didn't design for but did read and it's gorgeous).

Jeff Johnson sent this pic of his book The Animals After Midnight, the third in his Darby Holland series, relaxing on vacation in Eastern Oregon.

Publisher Leland Cheuk of 7.13 Books offered this shot of three of his titles, all of which I designed covers for, sitting on his dining room table.

And one of those authors, Alex Behr, shared this pic from Instagram because social media is one of the many ways books live in the world. She had this to say about it: "I like this photo bc my friend Cookie got it in the mail and I named a character after her. I've never met her in real life."

I like how Cookie describes Alex in her post. Feminine, bloody, and strange.

And I love how there are people we can call "friend" and yet never have met in real life.

Ellen Urbani sent me two pictures with this wonderful story:

When I was 7, I made the front page of the school newspaper, holding up my artwork alongside my childhood best friend, Bob Felker, in Darby, PA. Nearly 40 years later, at Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC, we staged a redux.

Frankly, I think we've held up pretty damn well. As has the art.

Mary Wysong-Haeri does these wonderful wine pairings / reviews of books, and she recently did one for Ramiza Shamoun Koya's forthcoming novel:

Though not due out until early 2020, Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s debut novel, The Royal Abduls, is one to look out for. Both entertaining and thought-provoking, it is the story of a family trying as hard as they can to be “normal” Americans, despite being of Indian Muslim descent. Amina Abdul believes they have succeeded until her young nephew, Omar, begins to speak with an Indian accent. Told from alternating points of view, the novel explores what it means to be different. Omar can’t decide if he is Indian or American; to be both doesn’t seem possible. As Amina struggles to help him, she discovers that she too is trying to answer this very question. Calling to mind some of the struggles of my own family (I am married to an Iranian), I found myself finding extra reading time in order to learn what happens to these characters. The wine I chose to pair with this rich and timely novel is a 2018 Stoller Dundee Hills Chardonnay. A distinctly beautiful Yamhill County wine, full of the flavors of Bosc pear and sweet apple balanced by a touch of bitter orange, its finish is long and soft and not unlike the affection I feel for Ramiza Shamoun Koya’s book.